Roundup: Track World Championship Edition

Chinese Reeling as Pendleton eases pressure on Brits

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Victoria Pendleton was awarded her fourth consecutive World Championship Gold Medal in the Women’s Sprint competition on Saturday.Despite crashing in the second of the three championship-deciding matches, Pendleton easy bested Chinese opponent Shuang Guo in the first and third round, and won her fifth title for Great Britain.Guo would go on receive the silver medal after defeating Australia’s Anne Meares in the determining fight for the remaining podium steps.The victory came as a great moral booster to Great Britain’s track team, whose performance at the 2010 World Championships events have been harshly criticized as relatively unsuccessful compared to years past.

Whitten Makes her Point and Wins More Gold

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Winning her second event of the World Track Cycling Championships, Canadian Tara Whitten won the 2010 women’s points race title on Sunday.No stranger to the track, Whitten was also able to dominate in the women’s Omnium race, a relatively new event set to appear in the 2012 Olympics for the first time.Racing aggressively and representing New Zealand, Lauren Ellis took advantage of conservative tactics played by Belarusian rider Tatsiana Sharakova and was awarded the Silver medal in the points race.Sharakova, 5 points behind Ellis, settled for bronze.

Known for his strength not only as an endurance rider, but also for his talent in the pursuit, British rider Ed Clancy won the Men’s Omnium World Championship title, beating out Australian Leigh Howard and American phenom Taylor Phinney.Clancy, who was a member of the Olympic championship team pursuit squad, won two of the five events in the Omnium, both the 200-meter flying start and 1km time trial, and indicated that he would be willing to give up his spot on Great Britain’s Team Pursuit squad to compete for the 2012 Olympic Omnium title in the London Games.Clancy’s medal was the third title won by a British rider at the 2010 championships, as Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton proceeded with performances earlier in the week.

Beating both Australia’s Sahne Perkins and France’s Kevin Sireau, Frenchman Gegory Bauge successfully defended his 2009 World Championship title and won victory in the 2010 Sprint competition.Even though Bauge reflected that he had not felt 100%, he managed not only to win the overall title but also clocked the fastest time in the start qualification match.While Bauge has yet to match the palmares of British rider Sir Christopher Hoy, at 25 years old, he appears more than capable of facing that challenge in the near future.

Phinney Wins Second Pursuit Title

Usacycling.org

At only 19 years old, Taylor Phinney’s resume already characterizes him as one of the most accomplished American cyclists of all time, and his most recent performance at the 2010 World Cycling Track Championships only supports such a claim.The first American to successfully defend a world championship title, Phinney smashed New Zealand’s Jesse Sergent in the gold-medal round of the 2010 4-kilometer pursuit race.Sergent, a teammate of Phinney’s on the Trek-Livestrong Professional team, set an earlier time of 4:15:988, but couldn’t match the 4:16.60 pace of Phinney when it mattered most.Australian prodigy Jack Bobridge, a much hyped favorite going into the event, could only manage third. With the long-term goal of winning a world record and Olympic medal for the 4km pursuit, Phinney also placed third in the Omnium event, behind Leigh Howard of Australia and Ed Clancy.

Meyer Claims Third Gold

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Teaming up with compatriout Leigh Howard, Australian Cameron Meyer won his third gold medal of the 2010 World Track Championships, as well as Australia’s first gold medal in the Madison event.While Meyer spends most of his time racing for the Garmin-Transitions Protour squad, he made an attempt to continue his track career and targeted the 2010 championships early in the year.After winning the Points Race event prior to the Madison, Meyer could only describe his recent success as “Unbelievable…I never could have dreamed this.”